Should Chrysler LLC be Troubled with Fiat 500's Sales in the USA?

When the Fiat Group – Chrysler LLC alliance first announced plans to bring the Fiat 500 to the U.S. market, it had hoped to sell around 50,000 cars in the first year –a highly optimistic number given that the BMW Group sold 47,050 MINIs of which 22,922 were hardtop hatchbacks in the U.S. through October this year.

In the same period, Fiat delivered 15,826 examples of its retro styled city car. A recent article on CNN's Fortune magazine states that while "it may be too early to call the 500 a flop, a lackluster start has cast a shadow over CEO Sergio Marchionne's grand plans to expand in the U.S."

But if you take a closer look at what the two brands currently have to offer in the States, it's somewhat unfair to compare the 500s first year of sales with the entire MINI portfolio.

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